Prisoner convicted of soliciting murder of Worcester prosecutor

Friday

Aug 23, 2013 at 4:32 PMAug 23, 2013 at 4:40 PM

A 75-year-old Dorchester man was found guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot targeting a state prosecutor. Prosecutors said Mr. Powell had a drunken driving case pending in Worcester Superior Court in 2011 when he offered Robert Bruno, his cellmate at the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction, just over $4,000 to kill Daniel J. Bennett, the senior first assistant district attorney in District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.'s office.

By Gary V. Murray, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — A 75-year-old Dorchester man was found guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot targeting a state prosecutor.

A 12-member jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before finding Pernell Powell guilty of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire. Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Dec. 6 and ordered Mr. Powell detained until then.

Mr. Powell is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.

Prosecutors said Mr. Powell had a drunken driving case pending in Worcester Superior Court in 2011 when he offered Robert Bruno, his cellmate at the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction, just over $4,000 to kill Daniel J. Bennett, the senior first assistant district attorney in District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.'s office.

Mr. Bruno, a onetime Latin Kings gang member from Fitchburg, alerted the FBI to Mr. Powell's plan and later wore a wire to record a conversation he and Mr. Powell had in a courtyard at the county jail.

Investigators also recovered a letter Mr. Powell sent to his brother, Norman Powell, asking him to forward $2,050 in money orders to Mr. Bruno's grandmother's home in Florida, as well as the money order receipts. Mr. Powell told his brother the money was for the purchase of a boat and told his wife, Kathy, it was to hire a new lawyer, according to testimony during the four-day trial.

While Mr. Bennett was not the prosecutor in Mr. Powell's case, he testified Friday that he did tell Assistant District Attorney Gregory Benoit, who was assigned to the case, to recommend a sentence of 4 to 5 years in the event Mr. Powell pleaded guilty. Mr. Benoit has since left the district attorney's office and gone into private practice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Dineen Jerrett told the jury in her closing argument that Mr. Powell wanted Mr. Bennett dead because he believed the senior first assistant district attorney wanted him to do "too much time."

"There is no evidence that Robert Bruno orchestrated any get out of jail free card," Ms. Dineen Jerrett said in reference to a comment defense lawyer Timothy G. Watkins made in his opening statement in the case.

A recording of Mr. Powell's Aug. 3, 2011, conversation with Mr. Bruno at the county jail was played for the jury. Mr. Powell could be heard telling his cellmate, "You can hit him any place you want" and "You do what you want to do with the body."

Mr. Bruno said he initially planned to rip Mr. Powell off for the money, but later decided to notify authorities and seek their consideration in a domestic violence case he had pending against him.

Mr. Watkins suggested to the jury in his closing argument that Mr. Bruno manipulated Mr. Powell for personal gain.

A prosecutor from outside Worcester County was assigned to Mr. Powell's drunken driving case after Mr. Bennett became aware of the attempt to have him killed. Mr. Powell was sentenced to 3 to 4 years after a jury found him guilty.